Apparatus for installing protectors on drill pipe



Sept. 7, 1943.

B. H. BARNES ETAL APPARATUS FOR INSTALLING PROTECTORS ON DRILL PIPEFiled N0,v.,l2, 1940 'ing an expanded collar.

Patented Sept. 7, 1943 APrARArUs Fon. INSTALLING Prio'riio'roiizsA oNmum. PIPE Byron H.A Barnes, San Marino, and Burt S. Minor. Whittier,Calif.. asslg'nors to B. H.' Barnes and Harriet C. Barnes, both of SanMarino, Calif.

Application November 12, 1940, se'ial No; 365,156

(c1. asa-sse) 3 Claims.

I ated in a manner to release or effect the removal of the collar fromthe sleeve on to the drill pipe,

such as are shown in our co-pending application, Serial No. 286,410, ledJuly 25, 1939, for Method and means for positioning expansible collarson pipes or the like.

It is an object of this invention to provide.

meansA whereby. rubber collars or protectors may be quickly installedupon drill pipe or the like either when the pipe is disposed verticallyin the oil well derrick or when it is lying horizontal, as on racks. Inthis connection it is va particular object to provide means whereby aplurality of collars may be expanded upon what will be called transfersleeves and to provide a single means for use in conjunction with thesleeves for removing the protectors from the sleeves, the' transfersleeves being detachably connected to such means. n

Itis also an object of this invention to provide a new and improved typeof apparatus for use in causing relative movement between the transfersleeve and an expanded rubber collar thereon and also to provide a newand improved transfer sleeve embodying such means.

These and other objects will be apparent from the drawing and thefollowing description there- Fig. 1 is an enlarged sectional elevationof means for removing a collar from a transfer sleeve shown inconjunction with a transfer sleeve;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the apparatus of Fig. 1-

shown in operative position;

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view on line 3 3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is an elevation partly in section of a transfer sleeve embodyinganother'form of the invention.

The invention contemplates the utilization of what will be termedtransfer sleeves for receiv- These transfer sleeves. indicated bynumeral I8 in Figs. 1-3, are of sufcient diameter so that they may bemoved over a drill pipe to any desired position and used in conjunctionwith other apparatus for removing the protector from the sleeve.Referring to Figs. 1 to 3, it is apparent that one end of the tween theprotector and the sleeve.

of. Referring to the drawing which ls for illustrative purposes only;

transfer sleeve is provided with interrupted screwquickly-connected to ameans generally indicated by numeral 45 for causing relative movementbe- 'Ihe means 45 includes what will'be termed an annular housing 46provided with a recessed end 4l having lnterruptedscrew threads 41'therein to receive the threads I8 of the sleeve.

The housing 45 is provided at one end with wall means 48 forming anannular chamber 48'. This chamber may be provided with uld underpressure by means of openings 49. The wall means 48 is tapped atintervals to accommodate a plurality of cylinders 50. In the form of thelnvention shown four such cylinders are shown threadably mounted in theholes 5I. Each cylinder is provided with a piston 52 and piston rod 53.The rods extend through cap or end closure elements 54 at the oppositeends of the cylinders and terminate in a collar engaging ring 55. Thisring is of sumcient diameter to accommodate the sleeve i8.

When pressure fluid is admitted to the chamber 48 and consequently tothe various cylinders the pistons 52 are effective to move the ring 55downwardly to engage an end of an expanded protector 32 which hadpreviously been expanded and mounted in expanded condition on the sleeveand to force the same olf of the sleeve as shown in Fig. 5. The sleevei8 has been shown longer than is essential for the accommodation of theordinary drill pipe protector in order that the sleeves may be longenough to accommodate what are known as drill pipe stabilizers which aresimilar to protectors but are longer than protectors and of greater wallthickness.

It is apparent that it is possible to expand the protectors on; to thesleeves I8 at any suitable place. A plurality of sleeves I8 may beutilized and transported with the expanded protectors thereon to thelocation of the drill pipe. The sleeves may then be quicklyconsecutively attached to the means 45 shown in Figs. l to 3 which iseffective for removing the protector from the sleeve on to tne pipe. Ifdesiredof course an apparatus can be provided wherein the sleeve I8 andmeans 45 are integral.

Referring to Fig. 4 there is illustrated a transfer sleeve embodyinganother form of the invention. This device comprises an elongate tubularmember or main sleeve 58 upon which is mounted a housing means 59forming an annular chamber 6l) provided with what will be termed apiston element 6I.

The housing means 59 includes an outer tubuv lar wall 62 which isprovided with an inwardly u extending flange 63 by means of which themember may--be secured to the sleeve 68 in any suitable manner as by thescrew threads 64. Slidably mounted in the chamber 60 isvtheaforementioned piston element 6i which comprises a piston head 65, asleeve 66, and a protector or collar engaging ring 61 secured't'o theend of the lmember 66 by screw threads 68 or in any other manner. Thepiston head 65 is provided with suitable packing rings as shown. Thesleeve 66 extends outwardly of the chamber 60 which is closed at itslower end by a ring and packing gland 1 I.

-In the operation of the device pressure uid may be admitted through anopening 12 to move the piston element 6I relative to the sleeve 58whereby the ring 61 may engage an end of a collar positioned on thesleeve and force the same oil of thel sleeve. The piston element may bereturned to its original position by admitting a pressure fluid throughan opening 13 in the member 62 and -by permitting release of thepressure :duid through opening 12.

It is contemplated that various changes and modifications may be madewithout departing from the scope of the invention thus, for example, theportion of the sleeve 58 extending beyondthe housing means 59 might bemade detachable from the remainder of the apparatus in the mannersimilar to the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, and it is therefore intendedto cover such modifications as come within the claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. Means for removing `an expanded collar from a sleeve on to a drillpipe or the like which includes an annular housing having anunobstructed bore of suiiicient diameter to permit the housing beingpassed over the drill pipe to any point, said housing forming an annularchamber at one end having axially extending openings therein; cylindersmounted in said openings; pistons in said cylinders; an annular collarengaging member externally of said pistons; piston rods connecting saidpistons with said collar engaging member; means for supplying a pressurefluid to the annular chamber in said housing; and means in said housingfor attaching the end of a sleeve adapted to accommodate an expandedcollar thereon to the end of the housing opposite the end having theannular chamber in position whereby said collar engaging means may .bemoved axially over said sleeve to cause relative movement between saidsleeve and a collar thereon.

2. Means for removing a drill pipe protector collar from a sleeve uponwhich it is mounted in expanded condition on to a drill pipe,comprising: an annular housing having an unobstructed bore of sumcientdiameter to allow the housing to be passed over the drill pipe to anypoint, said housing extending a substantial distance axially of thebore; a plurality oi.' cylinders mounted on said housing and extendingsubstantially parallel to the axis thereof; pistons in said cylinders;an ejector ring at one end of said cylinders: means connecting thepistons with said ring; and means for attaching the end of a sleeveadapted to accommodate an expanded collar thereon to the end of saidhousing at which said ring is located, saidmeans and said housing beingdesigned to allow of such attachment with only limited telescopicrelation of the parts at the ends to be attached whereby the parts maybe attached when an expanded collar is on said sleeve without disturbingthe collar; said ejector ring having a suiilcient bore to pass over asleeve attached to said housing and being movable by said pistons toengage an expanded collar on the sleeve.

3. In means for applying an expansible protector collar to a member ofgreater external diameter than the normal bore of the collar. anopen-ended sleeve having an unobstructed bore of substantially uniformdiameter extending from end to end of the sleeve and being of greaterinternal diameter than the diameter of the member to which the collar isto be applied so `as to completely slip over said member, said sleevebeing adapted to receive an expanded rubber collar, an annular housinghaving a sleeve like inner wall defining an unobstructed bore ofsubstantially the same diameter as said sleeve, one end of said borebeing enlarged to receive an end of said sleeve for a limited distance;interengaging means at one end of said sleeve and at the end of saidhousing having the enlarged bore for detachably connecting said parts,said member being substantially longer than the combined length of thesleeve and housing, and said sleeve and housing being movable as a unitto any position on the member; a collar engaging member mounted on saidhousing and adapted for movement over said sleeve axially thereof whensaid sleeve and housing are attached for engagement with an end of aprotector collar on said sleeve; means forming a cylinder on saidhousing; a piston in said cylinder including a part extending beyond theend of the cylinder and connected to said collar engaging member;andlmeans for admitting a pressure fluid to said cylinder to move saidpiston and associated collar engaging member into engagement with thecollar on the sleeve for causing relative movement between the collarand sleeve whereby the collar is removed from the sleeve.

BYRON H. BARNES. BURT S. MINOR.

